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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27226516">Hallowed Halls</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/spikesgirl58/pseuds/spikesgirl58'>spikesgirl58</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Halloween Challenge 2020 [10]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 08:48:56</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>968</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27226516</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/spikesgirl58/pseuds/spikesgirl58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Buffy graduated high school, she swore she'd never go back and yet there she was again.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Halloween Challenge 2020 [10]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1975084</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Hallowed Halls</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/amethyst_witch/gifts">amethyst_witch</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>The door creaked ominously as she pushed it open and Buffy made a face.  “According to what I read, they just rebuilt this thing.  It’s too soon for it to start creaking.  At least it’s a little warmer in here.”</p><p>“Well, at least not as blowy.  And renovated isn’t exactly the same as new,” Willow murmured.  She shivered and kept her flashlight focused upon the floor in front of her, even though the hallway was clear of debris.  Above her head emergency lights glowed softly.</p><p>“Maybe it sits on the Hellmouth like ours did, Buff.  That has to have something to do with it.”  Xander looked around uneasy.  “You know, when I was in high school I didn’t like.  Now that’s grown to a full-blown dislike of…” he trailed off, lost for the word.</p><p>“Ample?”  Willow suggested</p><p> “Ample proportions.  Thanks, Will.”</p><p>“What didn’t you like about school, Xander?”  Buffy stayed alert, even though nothing was kicking up her Spidey senses.</p><p>“Everything, at least when you came along, my nights got more interesting.”</p><p>“Hear, hear,” Willow said with a giggle.  “Xander, maybe if you’d studied, you’d have warm thoughts like me.”</p><p>“Would that have been before or after I got there?” Buffy asked, giving her best friend a gentle nudge.</p><p>“Before.  Afterwards, I was far too busy!”  Willow laughed and linked arms with her and Xander.  “This is pretty great, being on the East Coast.  It’s pretty this time of the year. And at the restaurant – those pancakes were amazing.  You liked them, didn’t you Xander?”</p><p>“Who knew pumpkin for breakfast could taste so good?”</p><p>“Might I remind you that we are not here to sightsee?”</p><p>All three jumped at the sound of the Watcher’s voice.  Giles was standing in the doorway of a classroom.  He did not look happy.</p><p>“Come on, G-man,” Xander teased.  “This is sort of a vacation.”</p><p>“We are here to clear up this mystery before they re-open the school.”  He gestured and turned.</p><p>With simultaneous sighs, the three friends followed him into the room.  They chose the chairs arranged around a table as opposed to the desks.</p><p>“So, what do we have, Giles?”</p><p>“We are going to attempt to prove or disprove the existence of Elizabeth Baraget.”  The room’s lights flickered and Buffy smiled.</p><p>“Looks like someone got your message and isn’t happy.”</p><p>“More likely it’s the wind outside.”  Giles opened up a book and spun it around for them to see the photo of a woman, wearing a plain but not unattractive floral print dress, her hair pulled back into a bun.  A few strands escaped, giving the woman an impish look.</p><p>“Oh, Buffy, look, she’s pretty,” Willow said.  “Why would she be haunting here?”</p><p>“She built this school, not just brick by brick, but also by reputation to becoming one of the best schools in the east.  I think she is more inclined to make sure it is being handled correctly.”</p><p>“Then why make her leave?”  Xander got up and started walking around the room.  “I mean, if it’s her place and all, what’s wrong with her hanging around?”  Xander jumped and looked at the rest of his group, obviously confused.</p><p>“What?” Buffy asked.</p><p>“It felt like someone just hugged me.”</p><p>“Aw, see?”  Buffy looked back at her watcher.  “Why do we have to make her leave, Giles?”</p><p>“We don’t.  We just have to make sure she wants to stay.”</p><p>“You mean, not being held here?”  Buffy closed her eyes, letting herself drift.  She felt no threat, no anger, in fact, no nothing.  “Are you sure she’s really here, Giles?”</p><p>The lights flashed on and off quickly and suddenly the room was filled with music.</p><p>“Oh, I know this!  It’s <em>In the Mood</em>.  My mom loves this song.”</p><p>“I don’t know which is more disturbing, that music is playing or that none of us think it’s odd,” Giles murmured.  “We… we get your point.  Please?”   The lights stopped flashing and the music gradually faded.  “Thank you.”</p><p>“So, why don’t we just ask her if she is okay and wants to stay?  You know, one flash for yes and another for no.”  The lights flashed once.</p><p>“What if it’s not her?”  Giles took off his glasses and began to polish the lenses.  “There’s also supposed to be a malevolent spirit that here tries to lure people away and another one who likes to pull pranks in the theatre, such as hiding props or turning the stage lights off..”</p><p>The lights flashed once. </p><p>“Um, Giles?”</p><p>“Yes, Willow?”</p><p>“What question do you suppose it was answering?”</p><p>The lights flashed once. </p><p>“Uh, no idea.  The first one?” The lights flashed twice.  “Oh, dear.”</p><p>Just then the phone rang and all four of them jumped.  Willow started to giggle almost immediately and Buffy tried to smile.  The phone kept ringing and she was getting an odd feeling in the pit of her stomach.  Xander turned back and went very pale.</p><p>“Xander, what’s wrong?”</p><p>He bent over and held up the other end of the phone cord.  It wasn’t attached to anything. ”Um, Houston, we have a problem.”</p><p>The lights flashed once. </p><p>Her face resolved, Buffy snatched up the receiver.  “What?”</p><p>“Run.”</p><p>“Run?”  Buffy looked down at the receiver.</p><p>The lights flashed once.   The music started to blare, but a twisted out of sync sort of wailing, like a record being played at the wrong speed.</p><p>“I think we should acquiesce,” Giles said, shepherding his charges to the door, spilling out into the hallway. All the classroom doors and lockers started slamming open and closed.</p><p>With a mighty yell, they headed for the nearest exit, never aware that a tall, thin apparition watched them.  She smiled slightly as they raced out.  No one was going to tell <strong>her</strong> what she could or couldn’t do in her own school.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
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